The paddock is required to service a multitude of tasks. An area of play and exercise, as well as provide a large proportion of the horses feed.
The activity of horses is an important aspect influencing the quality of a pasture. They are full of energy and when the day starts many horses begin with running. This puts a lot of stress on the grass. Therefore, the grass needs to be strong and dense and have excellent recovery ability.
Pastures contribute energy, protein, minerals and vitamins at various levels depending on the grass species and quality. Horses have limited ability to utilize poor quality pasture, so good management is vital if the horse is going to use the paddock to its utmost. Poorly managed pastures supply little feed with low nutritional value.
By nature, horses are “patch” grazers. Older pastures contain adult, mature grasses, which during the summer months are “stemmy” with little leaf. Horses will repeatedly graze the best-tasting plants, stressing them beyond their ability to survive. The introduction of new, young grasses across the paddock will improve the palatability of the paddock. This is extremely important as the leaf not only tastes better, it contains twice the amount of nutrients as the stem.
Freedom from weeds and grass diseases is also an essential element of quality pasture. Horses are very susceptible to digestive disorders when grazing pastures containing too many weeds (e.g. ragwort). Horses grazing on pasture with open, poached swards (limited grass cover) tend to ingest too much soil with the grass, which can cause colic.
An important aspect in the prevention of a pasture becoming “Horse Sick” is to remove faeces on a regular basis, to reduce the risk of parasite burden.
Sound pasture management is critical for maintaining a healthy, vigorous paddock that benefits the horse, the owner, and the environment.